Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Rough Sleeping and Homelessness

Monday 4 March 2024 · 6 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 3 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government has invested 450 million in the local authority housing fund, bringing the total to 1.2 billion.
  • The number of rough sleepers has increased by 27% over the past year.
  • Government has invested 42 million in Housing First pilots and an additional 30 million through the rough sleeping initiative.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Lilian Greenwood Lab Nottingham South
Housing Children & Families
Context

The MP noted the record high of 142,000 children living in temporary accommodation and highlighted the government's failure to meet their manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024.

Question

There are 142,000 children living in temporary accommodation—a record high that is costly to taxpayers, but devastating to the lives of children and families—and the Government's own data shows that they have utterly failed on their 2019 manifesto commitment to end rough sleeping by 2024. Is she happy for children and families to be paying the price for Tory failure on housing?

Answer from Felicity Buchan

This Government have made a concerted effort to tackle homelessness and eliminate rough sleeping. The last autumn statement contained a series of measures, including an additional £450 million for the local authority housing fund—taking that to £1.2 billion—to improve temporary accommodation quality.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific ask about contentment with situation was not addressed directly

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Q2 Bob Blackman Con Harrow East
Housing
Context

The MP highlighted the rise in rough sleepers by 27% over the past year and requested more investment to ensure Housing First is introduced across the country.

Question

I thank my hon. Friend for that answer, but the number of people in temporary accommodation has risen by 10% over the past year, and the number of rough sleepers has risen by 27%. Can we ensure that Housing First is introduced across the country and more investment is made?

Answer from Felicity Buchan

We have invested £42 million in Housing First pilots, and we are investing a further £30 million through the rough sleeping initiative. The Act has supported 708,000 families to prevent homelessness.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific ask about additional investment was not directly addressed

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Q3 Lilian Greenwood Lab Nottingham South
Housing Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP questioned the effectiveness of the housing fund to reduce families in temporary accommodation.

Question

What conversations has the Minister had with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions and the Treasury about raising the cap on the housing benefit subsidy?

Answer from Felicity Buchan

As the hon. Lady will understand, I cannot talk about any discussions that we may have had with the Treasury, but clearly the Budget is on Wednesday.

Not addressed: Specific ask about raising housing benefit cap was not addressed directly

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Q4 Anna Firth
Housing
Context

The MP highlighted an issue with Southend-on-Sea City Council receiving placement notifications from other local authorities.

Question

Southend has an abundance of accommodation that is deemed inexpensive by local authorities, and our city is picking up the tab. Under section 208 of the Housing Act 1996, all local authorities should give prior notice when placing people for homelessness within 14 days. Will my hon. Friend assist me in dealing with this issue?

Answer from Felicity Buchan

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct: if a local authority places people into temporary accommodation outside the borough, it should notify the relevant local authority.

Answered
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Q5 Munira Wilson Lib Dem Twickenham
Housing Benefits & Welfare
Context

The MP inquired about conversations with the Department for Work and Pensions regarding raising the cap on housing benefit subsidy.

Question

What conversations has the Minister had with colleagues in the Department for Work and Pensions and the Treasury about raising the cap on the housing benefit subsidy?

Answer from Felicity Buchan

As the hon. Lady will understand, I cannot talk about any discussions that we may have had with the Treasury.

Not addressed: Specific ask about raising housing benefit cap was not addressed directly

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Q6 Angela Rayner Lab Ashton-under-Lyne
Housing Children & Families
Context

The MP criticized the government's failure to meet their promise on ending section 21 evictions.

Question

Four years have passed since the Government first promised to end section 21 evictions, and now 70,000 children are coming home from school each night to sleep in temporary accommodation. So I ask the Minister how many more children must face eviction before she meets the promise?

Answer from Felicity Buchan

We are absolutely committed to repealing section 21—there is no question about that. We have a very holistic approach: building more housing, building more affordable homes.

Partly answered

Not addressed: Specific ask on meeting the promise was not directly addressed

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